Blood transfusion apparatus



g- 22, 1933- J. GRIFOLS Y ROIG BLOOD TRANSFUSION APPARATUS OriginalFiled March 16, 1929 [71 1 6 77 (07" J55 e Q'r/folay R09 5y PatentedAug. 22, 1933 UNlTED STATES PATET FlCE Original application March 16,1929, Serial No. 347,572, and in Germany March 24, 1928. Divided andthis application October 10, 1930.

Serial No. 487,876

1 Claim.

This application is a division of my application filed March 16, 1929,Ser. No. 347,572, relating to blood transfusion apparatus.

My invention refers to means for recovering blood and more especiallyfor transfusing blood from a spender to a patient. It is an object of myinvention to provide an apparatus adapted for this purpose, which isalways ready for use, which renders it unnecessary to uncover the vein,which allows drawing blood from the spender and injecting same into thebody of the patient after the manner of an intravenous puncture andwhich allows transporting the blood thus withdrawn in an absolutelysterile manner over long distances.

In the drawing affixed to this specification and forming part thereof anapparatus embodying my invention is illustrated diagrammatically by wayof example.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a longitud nal section of the ampoule,

Fig. 2 is an elevation of one of the ampoule necks with the needleholder mounted thereon, and

Fig. 3 is a plan View of the needle holder.

The ampoule shown in Fig. 7 has the form of a glass vessel 18 with twoopen necks, one at each end, and both of which are closed by means ofhollow stoppers 48. The marginal portions l9 of the necks are preferablydrawn inwards, so as to tightly grip the stoppers. One neck, forinstance 19, serves for withdrawing the blood, while the other neck 20,in which a filter mass 21 may be inserted, may serve for injecting theblood into the body or" another patient. The needle holder mounted onthe neck 19 consists of an arm 50 having a curved part 51 and splitlongitudinalally to embrace the needle 4, which is held in positiontherein, by means of a screw 52. The arm 50 is formed with jawsembracing a guide piece 23 fixed to the split clamping ring 22, whichencircles the neck 19 of the ampoule and is held in position thereon bya screw 23. The guide piece 24 is formed with notches 28, and on one ofthe jaws of the needle holder 50 is mounted a pawl 27 for pivotal motionabout a pin 26. A spring 29 tends to hold the curved operative end ofthe pawl 27 inserted in one of the notches 28. 30 is a handle formingpart of the pawl.

By pressing the handle 30 the pawl 27 is disengaged irom the part 24 andthe needle holder can be moved longitudinally relative to the part 24and the neck 19 to be fixed in position thereon, when the handle 30 isreleased, so that spring 29 can cause the operative end or" the pawl toenter one of the notches 28. In order to withdraw blood by means of thisdevice the pawl is disengaged from the part 24 by pressing the handle30, the needle is forced into the body of the person whose blood shallbe used for transfusion and the ampoule is now moved in gliding contactwith the holder 50 towards the needle, the stopper 49 being forcedagainst the free end of the needle, which will pierce the stopper andenter the ampoule, so that blood will be sucked into the ampoule owingto the interior thereof being partly evacuated. The pawl 27 is nowreleased and its operative end will enter another notch whereby theneedle holder and needle are fixed again to the ampoule and the needlecan be withdrawn by the ampoule.

If the blood contained in the ampoule shall be transfused into the bodyof another patient the same or a similar holder is mounted on the end 20of the ampoule together with a fresh needle, which is then inserted inthe body of the patient, the ampoule being moved towards the needlewhich will pierce the stopper 48 in the neck 20. At the same time aninert gas is forced in any suitable manner through the neck 19 into theampoule and by its pressure will force the blood contained in theampoule through the needle into the body of the patient.

Preferably the ampoule contains a substance capable of preventingcoagulation of the blood or glass pearls for defibrinizing the blood.

In View of the use of ordinary thin injection needles or cannulas theuncovering of the vein of the spender by incision can be dispensed with.On its way from the spender to the interior of the ampoule and from theampoule into the vein of the patient the blood is only in contact withthe inner surfaces of the short needles, so that in contradistinction toapparatuses hitherto used in which the blood had to pass through rubbertubes, valves and the like, a destruction of the red blood corpusclesand consequent rises of temperature are avoided. The withdrawal of theblood from the spender as well as its injection into the blood veins ofthe patient corresponds exactly to the ordinary puncturing of a vein.The blood is sealed in the ampoule against the access of the outer airand owing to the substance-preventing its coagulation it is alsostabilized, so that it can be conveyed in an absolutely sterile mannerfrom one room into another and can even be shipped over considerabledistances.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire 10 ily pierceablestopper of elastic material held in place at the entrance of each neck,a clamping ring encircling one of said necks, a needle holder axiallyslidable on said ring and means for locking said holder in variouspositions on said ring. JOSE GRIFOLS Y ROIG.

